When an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper stops a vehicle for a child passenger safety violation, a young life may be saved.

This month, as the Patrol joins safety advocates nationwide in observing child passenger safety month, I want to cover issues relating to this important subject.

Did you know that nationally traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 14 years old?

This sobering fact can be linked, at least in part, to the reality that most kids are unbuckled or improperly restrained while traveling in motor vehicles.

The issue of child passenger safety starts with understanding the Ohio law that governs the issue. In Ohio, child seats are mandatory for children under four-years of age or who weigh under 40 pounds.

As you see, the child safety seat law in Ohio is pretty clear.

So, what is the best way to protect a child in a motor vehicle?

The simplest and least expensive child safety seat model usually will work as well as one with fancy features. The most important thing to remember when selecting the child seat that is right for your family is to choose a seat that you find easy to use and that fits in your vehicle. Before you buy a seat, try it in your car to make sure it fits and can be buckled in tightly.

To do its job, a child safety seat must be held securely against the vehicle seat back. If the lap part of the safety belt is not tight or the safety seat slides around on the vehicle seat, your child may not be protected.

Obviously it is important for everyone to be buckled up while traveling in a motor vehicle, but many ask why it is so important for children to ride in the back.

Foremost in the answer to that question is that an infant or child riding in the front seat can be seriously injured or killed by an inflating air bag.

An air bag is not a soft pillow. To do its important job, an air bag comes out of the dashboard very fast; faster than the blink of an eye.

It is true that many lives have been saved by air bags. That said, infants in rear-facing child safety seats must never ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger air bag. In fact, children 12 and under should ride buckled in the rear seat. They should use child safety seats, booster seats, or safety belts appropriate for their age and size.

You may be wondering why I mentioned the child safety seat should be a rear-facing safety seat.

Actually, vehicle safety analysts have documented everybody would be safest facing backward while riding in a car.

Obviously that is not possible, but babies are fortunate that seats work this way.

Infants are safest when riding facing the rear because the back of the safety seat supports the child’s back, neck, and head in a crash. Whichever seat you choose, your baby is safest riding in a rear-facing safety seat until about one year of age and at least 20 pounds.

Please be sure to check your vehicle owner's manual and the instructions provided with your child safety seat for information on air bags and safety seat use.

Also, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has extensive and detailed resource information pertaining to child passenger safety available on their Internet web page at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov.

Ensuring the safety of parents on Ohio roadways is just as important as that of their children. No trooper wants to arrive at a crash scene to find parents killed or seriously injured, leaving a child survivor in a safety seat.

I want to emphasize again that wearing a safety belt is your best defense against serious injury or death resulting from a motor vehicle crash. Every person in the vehicle should be buckled up every time they are in a motor vehicle.

State troopers know that safety belts and child safety seats work because everyday they witness the trauma caused by crashes.

Please make the right choice to buckle up every time, and to make sure children are in properly installed child safety seats.

It’s about safety.